Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters urged MPs and activists to ‘drown out’ claims in last night’s BBC Panorama investigation to protect the Labour leader and his aides from anti-Semitism, it was revealed today.
The party’s ‘outriders’ and ‘socialist social media activists’ were urged to take to Facebook and Twitter to defend Mr Corbyn and his general secretary Jennie Formby.
As the Panorama show went out on BBC1 a WhatsApp message reportedly shared and sent by a key aide to Corbyn says his supporters must ‘park your emotions for a few days’ and ‘do not respond to trolls’.
The memo, leaked to HuffPo’s Paul Waugh, says: ‘Jeremy Corbyn is not an Anti-semite. Jennie is dealing with Anti-semitism. It is a real and present problem.’
It adds: ‘Make sure the truth about what Jeremy and Jennie have done to tackle anti-Semitism is known’.
The memo says they should avoid criticising people in the party including Mr Corbyn’s deputy Tom Watson – who said today the Panorama film had revealed a ‘sickness in our party’.
Instead they should turn their fire on the BBC and focus on allegations that the Tories are Islamophobic and ‘amplify’ Labour’s message that they are not a racist or anti-Semitic.
Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters urged MPs and activists to ‘drown out’ claims in last night’s BBC Panorama investigation
This guidance was shared online among Labour supporters and was leaked to HuffPo’s Paul Waugh
Kat Buckingham, a former chief investigator, told the programme the stress she was placed under to deal with a ‘massive’ workload of ‘real’ cases forced her to quit with depression
A Labour source has said that the guidance was not written by the party.
Party officials dramatically defied gagging orders last night to accuse Jeremy Corbyn’s closest allies of intervening in anti-Semitism cases.
A bombshell BBC documentary reported claims that Seumas Milne, Labour’s communications chief, laughed at the idea that Mr Corbyn should tackle the crisis by making a speech on Israel’s right to exist.
The Panorama programme also disclosed that Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby tried to influence the make-up of a panel investigating a member over anti-Semitism.
Mr Corbyn has denied for months that the leader’s office got involved in disciplinary cases.
But eight former Labour officials – four of whom broke non-disclosure agreements – claimed there had been meddling at the highest level.
They told Panorama that officials hired by Miss Formby repeatedly overruled junior staff to give anti-Semites a ‘slap on the wrist’. On one occasion, there was an order from Mr Corbyn’s office to bring complaints from party headquarters to his office in Parliament so his aides could process them.
General secretary Jennie Formby (pictured with Mr Corbyn) is accused of trying to influence the NCC, the party’s top disciplinary body, in the case of Jackie Walker, who was later expelled from the party for anti-Semitic behaviour
The latest revelations are another major blow for Labour, which is facing an investigation by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission into whether it is institutionally anti-Semitic.
On another day of shame for the party:
- Leading frontbencher Sir Keir Starmer said Labour should change its rules to automatically throw out members if there is clear evidence of anti-Semitism;
- In angry Commons exchanges, Theresa May accused Mr Corbyn of ‘ignoring’ racial hatred against Jews in his party;
- Jeremy Hunt said Mr Corbyn was leading the ‘most ruthless, dangerous, anti-British and anti-Semitic Labour Party we have ever seen’.
Labour last night furiously denied Panorama’s claims, which it said were made by ‘disaffected employees’ who had always opposed Mr Corbyn’s leadership. The party even tried to get the BBC to pull the programme and said it had complained to director general Lord Hall. It accused Panorama of ‘deliberate and malicious misrepresentations’.
But Jennifer Gerber, director of Labour Friends of Israel, said: ‘Panorama’s reported revelations underline the shocking extent to which some of those closest to Jeremy Corbyn have allegedly sought to protect the anti-Semites within Labour and cover up the extent of the problem. This scandal has been compounded by the efforts to muzzle whistleblowers, impugn the integrity of journalists and intimidate the BBC.’
Panorama spoke to eight former officials, including seven from Labour’s complaints and disputes section.
Kat Buckingham, ex-chief investigator in the disputes team, told the programme the problem of anti-Semitism complaints was ‘massive and real’ and ‘wasn’t constructed by embittered old Blairites, as we were frequently described’.
The disputes department is supposed to operate independently but the ex-staffers said there was increased interest from the leader’s office after Mr Corbyn took over in 2015.
Panorama also reported that Miss Formby attempted to interfere in the workings of the National Constitution Committee, (NCC) which decides if members are expelled.
Leaked email chains show she tried to influence the selection of the panel for the case of Jackie Walker, a former vice-chairman of pro-Corbyn group Momentum, over claims of anti-Semitic comments.
On May 5 last year, Miss Formby wrote: ‘The NCC cannot be allowed to continue in the way they are and I will also be challenging the panel for the Jackie Walker case.’
Copied in were Mr Corbyn on his personal email address, Mr Milne and Mr Corbyn’s chief of staff Karie Murphy.
Iain McNicol, Miss Formby’s predecessor as general secretary, told Panorama: ‘The emails you’ve shown me are really important… the issues that are raised should ring alarm bells across the party.
‘The NCC was created in a specific way to remove itself from politics and from political interference. So, to try to interfere politically within the NCC is just wrong.’
Miss Formby also wrote to the same email group: ‘I’ve permanently deleted all trace of the email. Too many eyes still on my Labour address. Please use my Unite address.’
Sam Matthews, a former head of disputes, told the documentary he received an email from Seumas Milne saying the party’ should ‘review where and how we’re drawing the line’ on anti-Semitism
Mike Creighton, the former head of Labour’s disputes team, told the documentary that Mr Corbyn’s director of communications and strategy, laughed at him when he suggested the party leader make a speech on the Middle East, a claim denied by Labour
A Labour spokesman said she temporarily stopped using her party email because of concerns that a political opponent had access to it.
Dan Hogan, an investigator on the disputes team, said things changed after Miss Formby became general secretary in March last year. He said on a number of cases he worked on people she brought in ‘overruled us and downgraded what should’ve been a suspension to just an investigation or worse to just a reminder of conduct, effectively a slap on the wrist’.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘The party is implacably opposed to anti-Semitism.’ He added: ‘The leader’s office did not intervene. These former disaffected employees sought the view of staff in the leader’s office, which was complied with in good faith.
‘The emails… are simply about ensuring the NCC is held accountable.’
He said that the number of staff dealing with complaints was doubling and the rate at which anti-Semitism cases have been dealt with has risen four-fold under Miss Formby.